Purse theft protection device

ABSTRACT

A purse theft protection device for causing a purse snatcher to release his grip on one of a pair of cylindrical ostensibly ornamental spacer elements connected in longitudinal spaced relathionship at their lower end to the upper frame of the purse and at their upper end to one end of the purse handle, leaving a sufficient distance between the upper purse frame and the ends of the purse handle to permit the purse to be firmly gripped by its handle for carrying the same in a conventional manner. Each said cylindrical ornamental spacer element incorporating a plurality of circumferentially spaced concealed radially disposed knife blades at the lower end portion thereof which become exposed and travel upwardly along slots provided in said cylindrical spacer element and cut the hand or fingers of a purse snatcher who may attempt to snatch the purse by manually gripping either of said ornamental cylindrical spacer elements and attempting to jerk the purse from the hand of a lady carrying said purse by its handle in a conventional manner.

United States Patent Korth [451 July 10, 1973 1 PURSE THEFT PROTECTION DEVICE [57] ABSTRACT [76] Inventor: Paul V. Korth, 19213 Yonka, A purse theft protection device for causing a purse Detroit, Mich. 48234 snatcher to release his grip on one of a pair of cylindri- [22] Filed: p 19, 1972 cal ostensibly ornamental spacer elements connected Appl. No.: 245,598

Primary Examiner--James L. Jones, Jr. Atlomey-Everett G. Wright in longitudinal spaced relathionship at their lower end to the upper frame of the purse and at their upper end to one end of the purse handle, leaving a sufficient distance between the upper purse frame and the ends of the purse handle to permit the purse to be firmly gripped by its handle for carrying the same in a conventional manner. Each said cylindrical ornamental spacer element incorporating a plurality of circumferentially spaced concealed radially disposed knife blades at the lower end portion thereof which become exposed and travel upwardly along slots provided in said cylindrical spacer element and cut the hand or fingers of a purse snatcher who may attempt to snatch the purse by manually gripping either of said ornamental cylindrical spacer elements and attempting to jerk the purse from the hand of a lady carrying said purse by its handle in a conventional manner.

4 Claims, 7 Drawing Figures PURSE THEFT PROTECTION DEVICE SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION This invention relates to purse theft protection devices, which appear as more or less ornamental means, and connect the ends of the handle of a ladys purse to and in spaced relationship above the ends of the conventional upper frame member of the purse. The said purse handle connecting means are preferably located at opposite end portions of the purse, and each is connected at one end to one end of the purse handle and at its other end to the upper end portion of the purse frame therebelow.

Each said connecting means is preferable tubular in shape and contains obscure knife means which would injure the hand of a purse snatcher who would grip the said connecting means and attempt to jerk the purse from the hand of the carrier thereof. Such injury consists of cutting the purse snatchers hand and/or fingers sufficiently to cause him to release his grip on the said handle connecting means.

Provisions are provided to de-activate the operation of the device when the purse is not carried in hazardous areas so that persons normally would not have their hands out by conventional handling of the purse.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS In the drawings:

FIG. 1 is a side elevational view showing a conventional ladys purse incorporating a pair of purse theft protection devices of the invention disposed in their normal attitude assumed while the purse is being carried;

FIG. 2 is a vertical sectional view taken on the line 2-2 of FIGS. 1 and 4 with the knife carrying piston of a theft protection device spring retracted to its knifehidden position with the safety lock thereof in engagement with said piston;

FIG. 3 is a vertical sectional view similar to FIG. 2 showing the safety lock released and the piston and knives of a purse theft protection device moved upwardly responsive to a purse snatcher grasping the purse theft protection means and jerking it in an attempt to steal the purse;

FIG. 4 is a cross sectional view taken on the line 44 of FIG. 2;

FIG. 5 is a vertical exploded view of the purse theft protection device shown in FIG. 2;

FIG. 6 is an exploded view of the piston and cutters of a purse protection device; and

FIG. 7 is a sectional view taken on the line 7-7 of FIG. 4 showing the means preferably employed to secure the bottom cap element in anchored relationship to the lower end portion of the cylindrical outer tube of a purse theft protection device.

Referring now to the drawings wherein like reference characters refer to like and corresponding parts throughout the several views, a conventional type of ladys purse 10 incorporating purse theft protection devices of the invention is shown in FIG. 1 wherein a purse bag 11 having a usual hinged frame 12 is normally held closed by a suitable clasp 13. A pair of anchor rings 14 are fixed to an element of the hinged frame 12 of the purse 10 near each end thereof, and a pair of generally cylindrical purse theft protection devices 15, ostensibly ornamental spacer elements, are

each connected at its lower end by a suitable V-shaped connector loop to an anchor ring 14, and the upper end of each said purse theft protection device 15 is suitably connected by a T-shaped head 230 of a piston rod 23 to a loop formed at each end of the purse handle 16.

Each said purse theft protection device 15 consists of a preferably tubular body member 150 having its lower portion cross slotted at 151 to reciprocatingly accommodate upwardly facing knife blades 22 carried by and extending radially outwardly from the lower crossslotted end portion 200 of a piston 20 into which said knife blades 22 are fixed. The said piston 20 is sized to freely reciprocate within the tubular body member 150 of the purse theft protection device 15. FIG. 6 is an exploded view showing a pair of cross-knife blades 22 which are centrally oppositely notched at 220 and 221 for assembly into a cross-knife unit which is telescoped upwardly into the cross slots 201 and 202 in the crossslotted lower end portion 200 of the piston 20 wherein the said cross-knife unit is preferably fixed by brazing or the like. The upper end of the said piston 20 is centrally bored and threaded at 203 to receive the lower threaded end 231 of the piston rod 23.

The radially disposed upwardly facing knife blades 22 fixed to and carried by the lower cross-slotted end portion 200 of the piston 20 are normally hidden in a suitable relatively thick lower cap element 17 crossslotted at and fixed on the lower end of said tubular body portion 150 of each said purse theft protection device 15. The free end portions 222 of the knife blades 22 become exposed as they travel longitudinally upwardly along the said slots 151 provided in the lower cylindrical tubular body portion 150 of each said purse theft protection device 15 whereby to cut the hand or fingers of a purse snatcher who may grab the purse by y the purse theft protection device 15 and attempt to pull or yank the purse 10 from the hand of the lady carrying the same by the purse handle 16. Under such circumstances, the purse snatcher almost invariably will release his grasp on the purse theft protection device as his hand or fingers are cut, and will run from the scene of the crime. As best shown in FIG. 1, the said purse handle 16 may be provided with a plurality of finger loops 161 into which the fingers of the hand of the lady carrying the purse 10 may be inserted whereby to permit the purse carrier to more firmly hold the purse 10 by its handle 16.

FIG. 2 shows a purse theft protection device 15 in its assembled condition with the knife carrying piston 20.

spring urged by a compression spring 24 to its lowermost position seated on an annular seat 25 which is firmly disposed within the bottom lower cross-slotted end 1510 of the tubular body 150 of the said purse theft protection device 15. The cross slots 151 of the tubular body 150 and the cross slots 170 of the lower cap element 17 are disposed in vertical alignment so that when the piston 20 is spring urged by the compression spring 25 to its lowermost position as shown in FIG. 2, the free end portions 222 of the knife blades 22 are safely disposed and hidden in the said cross slots 170 of the lower cap element 17. The V-shaped connector loop 140 which engages the anchor ring 14 fixed to an element of the hinged purse frame 12 is provided at its upper ends with a pair of radially inwardly disposed tangs 141 which engage both the lower cap element 17 and the lower portion of the tubular body 150 of the purse theft protection device 15 through suitable oppositely disposed apertures provided therein as best shown in FIGS. 4 and 7, thereby connecting the lower portion of a purse theft protection device 15 in assembled relationship on the purse frame 12.

The upper end of the tubular body portion 150 of each said purse theft protection device 15 has a centrally apertured cap 24 threaded thereon which accommodates freely therethrough the shank 232 of the piston rod 23. The lower threaded end portion 231 of the piston rod 23 is fixed in the centrally bored and threaded upper end 203 of the piston 20. The T-shaped looped head 230 of the piston rod 23 has the end 160 of the purse handle 16 fixed thereto preferably as indicated in FIGS. 2 and 3.

The bottom of the lower cap element 17 is centrally apertured at 171 to accommodate therethrough theshaft 270 of a safety anchor pin 27 having a threaded head 271 which may be threaded into a complementarily threaded central aperture 223 formed in the bottom of the piston 22 as shown in FIG. 2 to lock the purse theft protection device 15 in an inoperative position. The said shaft 270 of the safety anchor pin 27 extends through and below the bottom of the lower cap element 17, and. has a knurled knob fixed in nonturnable relationship on the lower end thereof by meansof which the threaded head 271 of the safety anchor pin 27 may be manually threaded into or out of the lower end of the piston 22 whereby to make the purse theft protection device 15 optionally inoperative or operative as purse theft protection is deemed advisable.

It is obvious that purse theft protection devices 15 of the invention may be used in pairs where the purse handle is parallel to and spaced from the purse frame; and, also singly when the purse handle is in the form ofa single loop, not shown in the drawings, in which event the upper end of the purse theft protection device would be connected to the bottom of the single loop type purse handle, and the bottom of the device would be connected in a suitable manner to the central portion of the top of the purse bag which would be held closedby suitable readily operable closure means.

The exploded view of a purse theft protection device 15 shown in FIG. indicates the general arrangement and construction thereof, the details of which obviously may be altered for convenience or economy, and, although but a single embodiment of purse theft'protection devices of the invention has been disclosed in the drawings and described herein, it is obvious that many changes and alterations may be made in the general arrangement-and details of the various elements of the invention, all without departing from the scope of the instant invention as defined by the appended claims.

I claim:

1. A purse theft protection means for a conventional ladys purse including an upper frame and a purse handle disposed parallel and in spaced relationship to said upper frame, comprising a pair of cylindrical theft protection devices, each connected at its upper end to one end of said purse handle and at its lower end to the upper purse frame therebelow,

each said purse theft protection device serving as a spacer between said purse handle and said purse frame, and includes a cylindrical outer tube having the lower end portion thereof cross slotted,

a cylinder reciprocable in said cylindrical outer tube having its lower end cross slotted into which are fixed a plurality of axially upwardly facing knife elements which extend a selected distance radially outwardly from said cylinder and are disposed freely through the cross slots in said cylindrical outer tube,

an upper cap element threaded on the top of said cylindrical outer tube having a central aperture therethrough,

an upper purse handle connecting means disposed freely centrally through each upper cap element having its upper end connected to said purse handle and its lower end threaded centrally in the top of said piston,

a compression spring disposed in said cylindrical outer tube above said piston constantly urging said piston and knife elements carried thereby to their lower knife retracted position,

a lower cap on the bottom portion of said cylindrical outer tube having a wall thickness slightly greater than the length of knife elements and cross slotted to freely receive and obscure said knife elements when said piston is spring urged to its knife retracted position, and 1 a lower generally V-shaped purse handle connecting means including a pair of oppositely inwardly dis posed tangs telescoped through .opposite sides of said lower cap and into apertures provided in the lower portion of said cross slotted cylindrical outer tube,

the knives of either of said spacer elements move rapidly upwardly from said lower cap and cut the hand of the purse snatcher when said spacer element is grabbed by the purse snatcher and jerked to snatch the purse from the person carrying it, thus causing the purse snatcher to release his grip on the said spacer element.

2. A purse theft protection means as claimed in claim 1 including means carried by and extending from the lower cap element of each said purse theft protection device manually engagable with the bottom of the piston thereabove adapted to lock said piston in its lower spring retracted position whereby to render said purse theft protection device inoperative.

3. A purse theft protection means including one or more theft protection devices of the type securable at one end to a purse carrying hand grip and at its other end to the purse, each said device comprising a generally cylindrical housing including a centrally apertured upper end cap element thereon, a piston reciprocable in said housing including a piston rod secured to the upper end of said piston extending reciprocally through said upper cap element and secured to said purse hand grip,

a lower cap element fixed on the bottom of said houscompression spring means in said housing disposed around said piston rod and located between the upper end of said piston and upper cap element constantly urging said piston to the lower cap element,

said housing having a plurality of circumferentially spaced vertical slots therearound,

knife means carried by said piston at the lower end portion thereof having upwardly disposed knife the hand of the person carrying the same by its hand grip.

4. A purse theft protection means as claimed in claim 3 including means carried by and extending from the lower cap element of each said purse theft protection device manually engagable with the bottom of the piston thereabove adapted to lock said piston in its lower spring retracted position whereby to render said purse theft protection device inoperative. 

1. A purse theft protection means for a conventional lady''s purse including an upper frame and a purse handle disposed parallel and in spaced relationship to said upper frame, comprising a pair of cylindrical theft protection devices, each connected at its upper end to one end of said purse handle and at its lower end to the upper purse frame therebelow, each said purse theft protection device serving as a spacer between said purse handle and said purse frame, and includes a cylindrical outer tube having the lower end portion thereof cross slotted, a cylinder reciprocable in said cylindrical outer tube having its lower end cross slotted into which are fixed a plurality of axially upwardly facing knife elements which extend a selected distance radially outwardly from said cylinder and are disposed freely through the cross slots in said cylindrical outer tube, an upper cap element threaded on the top of said cylindrical outer tube having a central aperture therethrough, an upper purse handle connecting means disposed frEely centrally through each upper cap element having its upper end connected to said purse handle and its lower end threaded centrally in the top of said piston, a compression spring disposed in said cylindrical outer tube above said piston constantly urging said piston and knife elements carried thereby to their lower knife retracted position, a lower cap on the bottom portion of said cylindrical outer tube having a wall thickness slightly greater than the length of knife elements and cross slotted to freely receive and obscure said knife elements when said piston is spring urged to its knife retracted position, and a lower generally V-shaped purse handle connecting means including a pair of oppositely inwardly disposed tangs telescoped through opposite sides of said lower cap and into apertures provided in the lower portion of said cross slotted cylindrical outer tube, the knives of either of said spacer elements move rapidly upwardly from said lower cap and cut the hand of the purse snatcher when said spacer element is grabbed by the purse snatcher and jerked to snatch the purse from the person carrying it, thus causing the purse snatcher to release his grip on the said spacer element.
 2. A purse theft protection means as claimed in claim 1 including means carried by and extending from the lower cap element of each said purse theft protection device manually engagable with the bottom of the piston thereabove adapted to lock said piston in its lower spring retracted position whereby to render said purse theft protection device inoperative.
 3. A purse theft protection means including one or more theft protection devices of the type securable at one end to a purse carrying hand grip and at its other end to the purse, each said device comprising a generally cylindrical housing including a centrally apertured upper end cap element thereon, a piston reciprocable in said housing including a piston rod secured to the upper end of said piston extending reciprocally through said upper cap element and secured to said purse hand grip, a lower cap element fixed on the bottom of said housing, compression spring means in said housing disposed around said piston rod and located between the upper end of said piston and upper cap element constantly urging said piston to the lower cap element, said housing having a plurality of circumferentially spaced vertical slots therearound, knife means carried by said piston at the lower end portion thereof having upwardly disposed knife blades extending radially therefrom through said slots in said housing, said lower cap element secured to the lower end of said housing formed to receive said knife blades obscure from view when said piston is spring urged to its downwardly retracted position, means securing the lower end portion of said purse theft protection device to said purse, the knives obscured by said lower cap element being movable rapidly upwardly with said piston when a purse snatcher grabs the purse by said purse protection device and attempts to jerk the purse from the hand of the person carrying the same by its hand grip.
 4. A purse theft protection means as claimed in claim 3 including means carried by and extending from the lower cap element of each said purse theft protection device manually engagable with the bottom of the piston thereabove adapted to lock said piston in its lower spring retracted position whereby to render said purse theft protection device inoperative. 